God's Remedy for Frustration
Today’s Verse:
Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. ~Psalm 37:1
Recently, a controversial sports celebrity became the face for a major sporting goods company. Many who side with this celebrity saw this as an opportunity to show their approval of him and the sporting good company’s endorsement. This celebrity saw his net worth catapult incredibly. To me, I find this very unsettling and frankly frustrating. Yet, it is the scripture supporting the devotion this morning that helps me remember that God has the right advice for us when we find ourselves fretting.
We see the reality.
The reality is we live in a sin-sick world. Good is called evil, and evil is called good. Right is called wrong, and wrong is called right. An anti-God philosophy prevails in this world. People vilify the name of our Lord. The richest, smartest, and most successful people in the world want nothing to do with God. David describes them as people who prosper in their way, and who bring wicked devices to pass. Four times in eight verses David reminds us, “Fret not thyself.” Don’t let their advancements and success cause us to lose hope and to lose our testimony.
We see the reckoning.
“For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.” We are reminded that evildoers are accountable to God. God does not look down in favor to their deeds. First, their lives and actions are not indispensable. In Ps. 37:13, David said, “The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.” They will not persist in what they do forever. Second, God will cut them off. Their ambitions and plans will go up in smoke. The kingdom they are building will collapse under them. We don’t know how God will do it, but we can rest assured that God knows, and He will settle matters eventually.
We see the recommendations.
When we fret, we tend to get upset about things, and lose our focus and perspective on everything else. We can become cynical and doubtful. So, David gives us sound spiritual advice so that we do not lose our spiritual edge. First, we must trust in the Lord and always do good. We must trust in the Lord that He is in control in these matters. We must please God by walking in the Spirit, glorifying Him in everything, and being fruitful in every good work. We must pray for the people that are adversarial to us and for the right outcome. It is during these difficult times of fretting that we must have increased faith in the Lord, and make our prayer time more involved. We must learn to rest in the Lord; this can be challenging when it looks like the evildoers are prospering in His way. However, resting means letting go of our anger and waiting on the Lord to do His work.
We see the results.
When we follow the recommended actions, the Lord shows himself strong on our behalf. We see the Lord answering the prayers of the righteous. We see the Lord enabling us to have peace where before, we were anxious. We see the Lord ordering our steps in a manner that helps us to stay in sync with him. We see the Lord vindicating His righteousness. We realize that it is better for us to let the Lord exercise His control in these matters than for us to try to “fight fire with fire.”
We will get frustrated and disillusioned when people do things that don’t make sense and are unbiblical. However, Ps. 37 was written to give us a big-picture perspective and to walk in the light as He is in the light. Don’t let fretting get the best of you. Give it to the Lord, and let Him work all things out.
Have a peaceful God Morning!
Bible Reading Schedule: Malachi 1-4